Sophocles’ classic tragedy Oedipus Rex demonstrates one of the most prominent and fascinating examples of a tragic hero in its protagonist, King Oedipus. When his city of Thebes falls under the spell of a mysterious plague, he embarks on an investigation to find out who killed the previous king and brought the curse on them. By the end, however, he finds that he himself killed the king in a series of circumstances – who also turned out to be his father. Throughout the play, Oedipus himself fights against a sense of destiny that has written his fate since childhood, Sophocles arguing that our lives are not truly drive by free will. Oedipus’ character is a tragic hero in that his own pride and lack of sight leads to his downfall, something which was always fated to happen for him.
Most tragic heroes have to fall from a great height, and Oedipus Rex is no exception. At the start of the play, Oedipus is at the apex of his powers, having earned the Kingdom of Thebes and ruling over it as a wise king. He has taken the previous king’s wife, Jocasta, as his own, and he does not directly suffer from the plague that besets Thebes at the start of the play. In this investigation, we see Oedipus’ good qualities, as he is brave, compassionate, and cares about his people: “I would be blind to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet” (Oedipus 14). Because of his outward kindness as king, it is easy to see how his fate is not directly tied to any action he might take, but by the will of the gods.
The story of Oedipus Rex is uniquely concerned with foresight and fate, which solidifies Oedipus’ tragic flaw – he cannot recognize what is about to happen to him, and inadvertently walks into his own tragic end without realizing it. This starts from before Oedipus’ birth, as King Laius hears a prophecy from an oracle about how his son will kill him; this leads him to abandon the child on a mountainside in order to avoid his fate. However, since fate cannot be changed or manipulated, the gods maneuver Oedipus into a position to kill his father later in life without realizing it. Sophocles paints these conclusions as the will of the gods: “So then Apollo brought it not to pass / The child should be his father's murderer” (Sophocles 994).
Despite his tragic fate, Oedipus helps these circumstances along with his own character flaws, which are equally tragic. Oedipus is extremely stubborn and unwilling to listen to divine reason, which is mirrored in his interactions with the prophet Tiresias. While he believes in Tiresias’ ability to predict the future at first (“Blind as you are, you can feel all the more what sickness haunts our city”), Oedipus refuses to believe him when the prophet tells him that he is the one who killed Laius (Sophocles 972). When he refuses Tiresias’ words, he simply responds, “Well, it will come what will, though I be mute” (Sophocles 1047).
Tiresias represents the ability to see the will of the gods and their plan for humanity – while he is technically blind, he sees in a much more important way than Oedipus possibly can. This theme of blindness is made even more clear when Oedipus stabs his own eyes out at the end of the play in reaction to his wife (and mother) Jocasta killing herself after learning the truth. In this moment, he recognizes that his own eyes could not make him see until it was too late.
The issue of fate vs. free will is an important one within the text of Oedipus Rex. After all, it is debatable whether or not Oedipus was truly meant to kill Laius and fulfill the prophecy, or if his attempts to circumvent this fate simply backed him into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Tiresias’ own admission of the prophecy leads Oedipus to lean harder into the investigation and look into things further, which is how he learns about the truth. That being said, he is simply following the hands of fate, just as Tiresias predicted. It can be hard to differentiate between what is predetermined and what is free will, since Oedipus likely believes he is in control of his actions. However, since Sophocles made the gods such a major presence within this play, and Laius’ own prophecy also turned out to be true despite his attempts to circumvent it, it is far more likely that Sophocles intended for fate to steer Oedipus into his tragic end without fail.
Judging from the text of Oedipus Rex, it is clear that Oedipus is a tragic hero. Despite being a good and well-liked figure, Oedipus is steered by fate and the gods to a tragic end that he cannot possibly see coming. Part of this is due to his own stubbornness and determination, but a good deal of this is that his fate is sealed and there is nothing he can do about it. In this respect, Sophocles comes down on the side of fate over free will in the text and themes of Oedipus Rex; only the truly blessed can see the will of the gods and accept their wisdom, while the tragedy of man is that they believe they are in control of their fate. Oedipus is the perfect example of this kind of tragedy and hubris.
Works Cited
Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Filiquarian Publishing, 2006.
